Bell Palsy linked to virus or MS?

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Hi everyone,

It has been quite a long time since I did not come here, as it has been fairly silent from a symptomatic level on my side, and all of my tests in the past (MRIs and others) said no to MS…

However, last week, I had for one entire week a really big headache that lasted 24/24 on the right side of my head, and this was accompanied by some deep pain in the right ear (ear inflammation)… it started initially with what felt like a little annoyance (like when you have a cold) in the throat… Anyway, I went to the emergency as recommended by my doctor in order to rule out a meningitis or some other type of brain infections/viral attacks. The meningitis was ruled out, and my blood tests came back normal, even though I had two big glands in the right side of my neck, suggesting that maybe a viral infection was at play. Both my doctors, after examining me, said that I was having a virus that attacked me quite strangely, but it was just a virus (my girlfriend had one at the same time, with different symptoms though).

Anyway, to come back what is happening now, I noticed (as well as my colleagues and girl friend) today that my right eye never really closes itself, which makes me look like double-face in batman in some strange ways… I already noticed yesterday that my lower right lip could not perform normal movements either, like smiling symmetrically, laughing without it looking awkward, or eating with a completely full normal mouth. Basically, to me it is quite clear that I am experiencing some type of milf face paralysis on the right side…

After looking on Internet, Bell Palsy immediately came up, and apparently it often follows or come with a virus that really sounds like what I had (even though there is a myriad of viruses that can cause Bell Palsy, I know), and it is self-limited… in my case, the presence of an ear inflammation (as the doctor noticed) and of glands in the neck, plus this weird headache for 7 days that eventually completely went away, plus a tiredness that generally comes with flu-likes illnesses, somehow suggest that I had a virus and now my nerve in the jaw became inflamed…

What do you think are the chances that this is another symptom of a potential MS? If you check back my older posts, you will see that in the past, I already experienced some bizarre neurological issues…

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and good evening to everybody.

Blue Marble

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Hi Blue, So in short… as said by my neuro ’ a nuclear lesion (i.e in the CNS) can mimic bells palsy. The reason I know this information is because I have an Identical twin, and when I was diagnosed last month I brought my brother up and explained he had ‘bells palsy’ within the last 12 months and I asked his opinion if he should get checked. An identical twin has a 25% chance of having MS if the other has it. His answer was ‘it would be reasonable to have a spinal and brain MRI to just check’. Kind regards, Rich

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I was diagnosed with PPMS is 2011. I developed Bell’s Palsy at the beginning of the year. I had a severe headache the day before it started followed by not being able to drink properly without spilling. The paralysis got worse over the next couple of days.

I got in touch with my MS nurse as I was concerned it was to do with my MS (and possibly indicated a relapse which I’m not supposed to have) My neurologist saw me the next day. He said that as I had a pain behind my ear and had lost the sense of taste it was unlikely to be related to MS.

As I’d had Bell’s a couple of years ago and had 3 months of double vision last year he is sending me for brain and spine MRI .

Six weeks on taste is back to normal, no pain and my face is getting back to normal.

Sarah